Taco Bell’s $1 Belluminati

Taco Bell’s got a new and improved dollar menu and in these spots, they show a mysterious secret society behind the power of the dollar. That secret society is called The Belluminati. Ugh.

Intuit QuickBooks Goes “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”

An a cappella version of Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” seems like an odd choice for an Intuit QuickBooks ad. But when combined with images of work, it actually makes for a compelling commercial. The cover is sung by 13-year-old Willa Amai.

 

 

State Farm Brings Us Chris Paul Singing Along To “I Want It That Way”

When Chris Paul left the Los Angeles Clippers for the Houston Rockets, he unfortunately also had to leave his long-time State Farm agent, Cliff. As a last assist, Cliff gave him the card for a new agent, Cole Perez. As this new State Farm spot starts, we see Cole (played by Oscar Nunez) showing Chris around Houston. They go bowling. They eat chili fries. When the iconic Backstreet Boys tune “I Want It That Way” comes on the radio, they enthusiastically sing along. Then, they run into two of Chris’ new teammates, James Harden and Trevor Ariza. Seems that James has some car trouble. After picking them up, Harden is still concerned about his vehicle, while Trevor gets in on the karaoke act…quite poorly. Haha. And one of the best parts of the ad is that according to this Adweek article, everyone knew the words to “I Want It That Way.”

WeatherTech Spoofs Those Ridiculous Christmas Car Buying Ads

I can’t stand those Lexus “December to Remember” commercials. They make it seem like buying your spouse an expensive car for the holidays is something that’s totally normal. And now, other luxury auto brands like Audi and Infiniti have similar spots. So this WeatherTech ad made me chuckle. A woman shows off a bow-covered car to her husband. Turns out, it is his car. But she got him WeatherTech floor liners, which seems like a more reasonable thing.

 

Geico: These Penguins Get Lost, Even With GPS

GPS is extremely useful when you’re trying to get around. But it’s not perfect. In Geico’s new spot, we see the great emperor penguin migration. Most of the penguins stick close together, and are going the right way. But then there’s a pair of penguins who have gone astray because of bad GPS directions. The one is quite upset when he finds out that they’re not scheduled to arrive at their destination for 92 days. Oof.

Disaronno’s Classy Commercial

Disaronno is an Italian brand of amaretto liqueur that has a luxurious image. They capitalize on this image with their lovely new ad showing an attractive couple dancing at an oceanside villa. Combined with the beautiful music (which was expressly created for the commercial), Disaronno’s spot becomes reminiscent of a fashion ad. It’s classy as hell, but whenever it comes on, I’m inevitably doing something lowbrow…like eating Cheetos on the couch.

The Phillips’ Lady Discusses Colon Health At The Office

The Phillips’ Lady (played by Phoebe Jonas) has a long history of openly discussing constipation, diarrhea, gas, and bloating with everyday people. And here, she does it in an office. A friend suggested I write about this one. His comment: “Ha, if someone walked up to you while you were working and said this, wouldn’t you go ‘TMI lady, TMI'”? And yes, that sounds about right.

This Commercial Sucks: iPad’s “What’s A Computer?”

This Apple iPad Pro ad has been out for a month now and racked up nearly six million views on YouTube. For the most part, it’s not a bad spot following a young girl named Scout using her iPad Pro during a day in her Brooklyn neighborhood. The song (“Go” by Louis the Child) is decent too. But the reason I think this commercial sucks is the same one most of its detractors have…that final line of “What’s a computer?” Ugh. So annoying and pretentious.

Kraft Has A Tearjerker Of An Ad About Parenthood

Earlier this year, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese had a lighthearted campaign about parenting foibles, emphasizing that parents aren’t perfect. Now, Kraft has a more serious campaign, dubiously called “Family Greatly.” Despite the stupid name of the campaign, the first long-form spot is quite touching. Real parents are interviewed about their insecurities about raising their kids and the pressure to be “perfect.” But then when their kids are interviewed, the parents see what they say and realize that they’re doing a great job. Aww. Here’s more from Ad Age.

A HoneyBaked Ham Is Much Better Than A KellyBaked Ham

According to Adweek, this spot is HoneyBaked Ham’s first TV ad in 10 years. And it’s an amusing one. We see attractive shots of a HoneyBaked Ham contrasted with the struggles of a KellyBaked Ham, attempted by the hapless Kelly. The repetition of “A HoneyBaked Ham…or a KellyBaked Ham” becomes positively hypnotic. I especially appreciated the quick scenes of Kelly fighting her dog for the ham. Nice work from BBDO Atlanta.